{"title":"Home Office Lighting","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA home office is lit for one purpose: doing focused work without a headache at 4pm.\u003c\/strong\u003e That makes it the room where the specs matter more than the styling — and where the most common setup, one ceiling fixture and a laptop, is close to the worst possible arrangement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eThree problems to solve\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eScreen glare.\u003c\/strong\u003e Any light source reflected in your monitor is a source of eye strain. Sit where you work and look for reflections — then move the light, not the screen.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eContrast.\u003c\/strong\u003e A bright screen in a dark room forces your eyes to constantly re-adjust. That's the single biggest cause of end-of-day eye fatigue, and it gets worse in winter when the room is dark by mid-afternoon. You want the wall behind and around the screen to be lit, not dark.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShadow.\u003c\/strong\u003e Put a task lamp on the opposite side from your writing hand, or your hand shadows exactly what you're looking at.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eThe three-fixture setup\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAmbient overhead\u003c\/strong\u003e — a ceiling fixture to lift the whole room and reduce screen contrast.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTask lamp\u003c\/strong\u003e — an adjustable desk lamp, opposite the writing hand, angled at the work rather than at you.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBackfill\u003c\/strong\u003e — a floor lamp in a corner or a sconce behind the monitor. This one is the least obvious and the most effective for long sessions: it lights the wall behind the screen and kills the contrast problem.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eColour temperature, and switching it\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3500K–4000K\u003c\/strong\u003e during the workday. Closer to daylight, better for alertness and detail.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut a home office in Canada is also a room you're in at 7pm in January. A fixture or bulb that \u003cstrong\u003eswitches between 4000K for work and 2700K after hours\u003c\/strong\u003e is genuinely useful rather than a gimmick — it lets the room stop being an office when you stop working.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCRI 90+\u003c\/strong\u003e if you do anything colour-critical.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eFlicker\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCheap LED drivers flicker at a frequency you don't consciously perceive but your eyes track over hours. It's a leading cause of screen-work headaches and it's rarely advertised. Buy fixtures and bulbs that specify flicker-free operation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom a Canadian company that works through the dark half of the year too.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eFrequently asked questions\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eHow do I stop glare on my monitor?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePosition lights so nothing appears in the screen's reflection. Sit where you work, look at the dark screen, and move whatever you can see in it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy do my eyes hurt after a day at the screen?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUsually contrast — a bright screen in a dark room — or flicker from a cheap LED driver. Light the wall behind your monitor and choose flicker-free fixtures.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat colour temperature for a home office?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3500K to 4000K for work. A switchable fixture that drops to 2700K after hours lets the room stop being an office in the evening.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWhich side should a desk lamp go on?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOpposite your writing hand, so your hand doesn't shadow the work.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eDo I need a ceiling light in a home office?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYes, or an equivalent ambient source. A task lamp alone leaves the rest of the room dark and makes screen contrast worse.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cscript type=\"application\/ld+json\"\u003e\n{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How do I stop glare on my monitor?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Position lights so nothing appears in the screen's reflection. Sit where you work, look at the dark screen, and move whatever you can see in it.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why do my eyes hurt after a day at the screen?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Usually contrast, a bright screen in a dark room, or flicker from a cheap LED driver. Light the wall behind your monitor and choose flicker-free fixtures.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What colour temperature for a home office?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"3500K to 4000K for work. A switchable fixture that drops to 2700K after hours lets the room stop being an office in the evening.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Which side should a desk lamp go on?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Opposite your writing hand, so your hand does not shadow the work.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Do I need a ceiling light in a home office?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes, or an equivalent ambient source. A task lamp alone leaves the rest of the room dark and makes screen contrast worse.\"}}]}\n\u003c\/script\u003e","products":[],"url":"https:\/\/dan-whitlock.com\/collections\/home-office-lighting.oembed","provider":"Dan Whitlock","version":"1.0","type":"link"}